It may have been the Lantern Festival yesterday, when the dumplings should be eaten and the fireworks scare away the evil spirits. Beijing saw the arrival of some other white stuff yesterday afternoon: Snow lots of it.

The last time the city was blanketed in snow was during the Lantern Festival in 1987.

It is the eighth time Beijing has been covered with snow during lantern festivities in half a century.

Meanwhile, the northern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, Tianjin in north China, and some parts of Hebei Province in north China also reported snowfall.

Meteorologists say that with the snow, the mercury will be down 4 to 6 C, with some parts experiencing as low as 10 C over the next few days. Stiff winds of force 4 to 6 are expected to blow in some parts of the country, weather forecasters said.

At local restaurants in Beijing's Chaoyang District last night, patrons stepped outside to brave the elements and unleash a few rounds of fireworks skirting the law to frighten off evil spirits.

"The smoke rises right up through the snow," said a taxi driver who stopped to buy some noodles. "It's a bit eerie." He added that there were fewer taxis on the street than usual.

Driver Yang Haizhao said that navigating local streets had not been a real problem, and the snow was not as difficult as he'd expected.

Locals believe that snowfall so close to the Lunar New Year Festival, which fell this year on February 9, is good luck. It should bring a good wheat harvest for the nation, providing farmers with plenty of water for their crops to flourish.

Doctors also say it is good for people's health, since the snow and water wash away germs on the area streets and infrastructure.

You cannot say the same for dumplings.  

(China Daily February 24, 2005)